Plaza San Francisco Cartagena

This central plaza is a popular cultural venue

The Plaza San Francisco is one of the central plazas at the heart of Cartagena’s old quarter and during 2013 underwent a complete transformation to update it and remove some of the overgrown vegetation, creating a bright new plaza and open space for the city.

The modern day plaza is built over the top of several layers of history, with the remains of the Convent of San Francisco, the Ruins of the Roman Forum which were located at a depth of about three metres and a refuge from the Spanish Civil War below it.

Cartagena’s Forum was located in the centre of the Roman city, and was the administrative, commercial and religious centre of Carthago Nova. Its location partly coincides with that of the Plaza de San Francisco, and at the northern end was the Templo Capitolino, raised on a podium above the level of the rest of the square to signify that religion was on a higher plane than mundane everyday life. Opposite was a row of “Tabernae”, or shops or stalls, which is now depicted on the paving of the square.
Behind the tabernae was a double portico and at the south-eastern corner of the square was a religious building, where priests prepared imperial ceremonies. Part of this area is now preserved in the Augusteum, below ground behind the plaza.

The “curia” was at one the northernmost corner of the square, and was the centre of the municipal government which dealt with the administration of the colony: some of the structure of this building is preserved underneath the current medical centre and Calle Adarve

The re-modelled plaza aims to display via the pavement decoration, the various documented historic ruins which were found throughout the whole square during excavations in 1985 and will form part of a planned archaeological route in the future. It is also a popular place for enjoying a break from the heat of the sun and has four huge ficus trees at its centre which were planted in 1930.

It is also surrounded by buildings with modernist facades, the style which so much characterises the architecture of central Cartagena, much of it constructed during the boom years of industrial expansion in the 19th century when the nearby mines of La Unión were in full production.
The plaza is often used for concerts and community events and is also the location for the municipal belén, or nativity scene, over the Christmas period.